


Swim Fast, Love Hard

by sterekwrecked (chucklesisme)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, All the Hales I needed all the Hales, Alternate Universe - High School, Jock Stiles, M/M, Nerd Derek, Swimmer Derek, if derek isn't blushing like a tomato I didn't write it, so many Hales I might need a family tree, switching POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-16 00:52:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15425406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chucklesisme/pseuds/sterekwrecked
Summary: Derek has a plan for his last year of high school, and for once it has nothing to do with getting a good grade.OrNerd!Derek tries to swim his way to love





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All the love to my wonderful beta brebit6 and thanks to acollectionofsterek for having a quick read over this chapter and for the encouragement from both of you! 
> 
>  
> 
> *warning* I know absolutely jack shit about the american schooling system, swimming in general or how many people you can realistically fit into one house. 
> 
> Any remaining spelling or grammatical errors are my own.
> 
> More tags to be added in the future.

Derek’s first week back at school wasn’t going quite as he’d thought it would. Sure, his  _ classes _ were going as he’d hoped, but he had  _ other _ plans. And of course, those plans revolved around one Stiles Stilinski. See, Derek had been crushing on Stiles since he’d moved to Beacon Hills  in  middle school, and now he’s in his last year of high school. Stiles still hasn’t really noticed him. But Derek was going to change all that.  _ Well _ ... if the  _ plan _ worked out. 

Half way through his summer holidays he’d decided he had to change something if Stiles was ever going to notice him. Because, let's face it, Derek’s a nerd. He’s got the glasses, the awkwardness, and plenty of books to spare. And judging by the people Stiles hangs out with, nerds just aren’t his type. So, something's gotta give. Now, Derek’s a pretty observant guy, and it hadn’t exactly escaped his notice that all of Stiles’ friends are jocks. 

 

Thus begun his plan. Every morning he ran before breakfast, 5 miles around the preserve. It kept his head clear, and woke him up enough to prepare for the day. All he had left to do was pick a sport, something that he could do well enough to impress Stiles, but not something that would consume all of his time. He didn’t need to be first string for whatever sport, he just needed to make the team. 

 

-

 

Anyway, that brings us back to now. Sitting in the locker room before swim team tryouts.

 

Derek releases the shaky breath he’d been holding and braces himself for the strong smell of chlorine that surrounds the school’s swimming pool. He hates swimming at the pool and he would far prefer the lake down in the preserve. There, he doesn’t have to deal with loads of people swimming, like at the public pool. As he steps out into the pool area he looks  towards the stands and notices his sister, Cora, chatting with a couple of students. A red haired teen and what looks to be her boyfriend, considering the arm around her shoulders. The girl turns slightly, and Derek’s jaw drops. 

 

What the hell is Cora doing chatting with  _ Lydia Martin _ ?! 

 

Derek wouldn’t consider himself even remotely popular, whereas Cora had always chosen  _ not  _ to be popular. She has always been vehemently against the high school hierarchy. In fact, just last week she’d been ranting about how stupid it was that people even  _ ‘defined themselves by adolescent cliques.’ _  She’d even included finger quotes.

 

He was honestly surprised she’d even showed up to watch the swim team tryouts today. He’d only mentioned it in passing at breakfast this morning. 

 

Derek sighs and shrugs it off.

 

Cora can hang out with whoever she wants to anyway. There’s no point in trying to make sense of what she’s doing anyway, he has a swim tryout to focus on. 

 

-

 

Forty five minutes later and Derek is just pulling himself out of the pool. He hears some whooping and hollering in his direction and knows it’s Cora, being her loud, usual self. He looks back over at the stands where she’d been before and feels his face go beet red.  A certain, special someone has joined her in the stands. Right next to his sister sat Stiles Stilinski, the  _ reason _ he was here in the first place. 

 

Derek waves awkwardly at his sister, who is now standing up and waving him over enthusiastically. Dammit Cora. 

 

He sighs before picking his towel up and tossing it over his shoulder. Making his way over to where his sister is sitting couldn’t be more embarrassing. Unless he was naked…   _ Which _ ... he basically is in his speedo. 

 

“Cora,” Derek nods, hoping like hell that his face isn’t as flushed as it feels.

 

“Hello, brother of mine. Do you know Lydia, Jackson and Stiles?” his sister asks, knowing full well that he does, in fact, know who they are. She even has the nerve to wink at him behind their backs. God, he wishes he’d never told his sisters about his massive crush. 

 

“Uh, we’ve met?” Derek says, cringing hard at how stilted he sounds. 

 

“Have we? You don’t sound so sure,” Jackson says with a smirk.

 

Lydia flicks her hair over her shoulder before sighing loudly. 

 

“Jackson, don’t be rude.”

 

Derek ran a hand through his wet hair and looked over at the door to the changing rooms, longing to just walk away from this  conversation. 

 

“Actually, I think we have met.” 

 

He turns to look back at Stiles, who’s looking directly at him.

 

“You’re in AP chemistry, right?” Stiles asks him.

 

“With Harris, yeah.”

 

“Wow, so we’ve all met,” Cora pipes up, rolling her eyes at her brother. 

 

“I think we’ve established that,” Lydia says, clearly bored.

 

Derek flicks between watching his sister and looking over at Stiles, who has moved down a step on the bleachers. 

 

“I should, er, go get changed,” he says, awkwardly, pointing his thumb in the general direction of the changing rooms. 

 

“Right, you’re probably getting a bit cold,” Stiles replies, gazing over at him with a small smile. 

 

Unable to break eye contact with the Stiles, Derek jerks his head down in a slight nod, feeling really self-conscious. He steps back, and starts walking towards the locker room, desperate to get away. 

 

“I’ll meet you by the camaro!” his sister calls cheerfully after him.

 

-

 

Derek sighs in relief as he stands in front of his locker. He opens his locker door and looks in the mirror and forces out a breath. At least his cheeks aren’t as bright as he thought they’d be. He pulls the towel  off his shoulder and starts dabbing himself dry. He pats over his arms and down his legs before quickly pulling on some sweats and a t-shirt. He can shower when he gets home, and at least then he won’t have to worry about how much hot water he’s using. 

 

As he’s pulling on his shoes he wonders if Stiles and the others will be with Cora out in the car park. He wouldn’t mind talking to Stiles again, he’d just prefer not to be in his speedo when it happens. 

 

Derek hurriedly packs the rest of his stuff back into his duffle bag so he can make his way through the school and out to where his sister is sitting on the hood of his car. Alone. He tried not to let his disappointment show.

 

He watches as she slides off the hood and picks her bag up from where she’d left it on the ground. “So, what was your time?” she asks him.

 

He shrugs as he unlocks the car and hops inside. “So, you know Stiles?” 

 

“Of course I know Stiles, we were english partners last year.”

 

“And you didn’t wanna mention that when I told you and Laura I liked him?” Derek asks, looking over at his sister in exasperation.

 

“Ha. Where’s the fun in that?”  She laughs. 

 

Derek huffs, slightly annoyed but doesn’t say anything else as Cora fiddles with the radio. 

 

“Besides, you never would have let me help you if you knew we were friends,” Cora grins to herself.

 

“Dammit Cora!” 

 

“What?! You totally need my help.”

 

“I don’t need any help!”

 

“ _ Please _ , you totally need my help,” Cora says, rolling her eyes.

 

Derek grumbles but doesn’t argue as he pulls the car out of the car park and heads home. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to brebit6 for being an amazing beta! 
> 
> Also, thanks to everyone that left comments and kudos on chapter one ❤

 

After dinner, Derek is sitting at the desk in his room  finishing off the last of his homework, when a knock on the door startles him out of his concentration. He looks up just as his mom pokes her head around it.

 

“I heard you tried out for the swim team this afternoon.”  She smiles warmly as she steps fully into the room.

 

He’s not at all surprised Cora blabbed to their mother.  It’s not exactly easy to keep a secret when your mother’s a lawyer and to be honest, he’s glad she told her, only because it meant he didn’t have to do it himself.

 

“Uh yeah, thought I’d try something new,” he says as he shrugs, hoping his mom wouldn’t think anything of it. 

 

And that Cora hadn’t mentioned anything else, or rather, any _ one  _ else.

 

He spins his chair around and watches as his mother takes a seat on the edge of his bed. If there’s one thing Talia Hale knows, it’s her kids,   and Derek can see that inquisitive look in her eye. She definitely knows something. Maybe not everything, but  _ something. _

 

“Cora said she watched the tryouts with a couple friends…” his mother leads, watching Derek  with a knowing look.

 

“Did she?” he tries, mumbling his words slightly. 

 

“Yes, in fact she asked if maybe she might invite those same friends over on friday night,” his mother replied, before adding with a smile. “I only bring it up because I thought it might be nice if you invite a few of your own friends over as well.”

 

Derek panicked internally, before thinking it over for a second. 

 

His mother must have noticed his panic though because she starts talking again, quickly adding that Derek and his friends can hang out in the rumpus room while Cora and her friends can hang out in the lounge. 

 

Derek nods slowly before saying, “Yeah, okay… I’ll ask Boyd, Erica and Isaac tomorrow.” 

 

His mother smiles brightly, before standing up and continuing. “Well, I’ll let you finish off your homework sweetheart.   Don’t forget to get some rest soon.” 

 

“Thanks mom,” Derek says, leaning back into his chair and swiveling it back around to face his desk. She shuts the door on her way out, leaving him alone to finish his homework. Only now, all he can think about is friday night...and Stiles. 

 

-

 

Derek rolls out of bed the next morning and squints blearily at his alarm. 

 

_ Ugh. _

 

He’d hardly slept a wink last night, his thoughts stuck on Friday and what was to come. Now he has to get up and go for a run before he heads to school. At least the run would help him wake up properly, and if it didn’t, then a hot shower before breakfast surely would. 

 

He stumbles over to his closet and grabs a pair of running shorts before making his way downstairs and out the back door. He stretches on the porch for a few minutes, breathing in the cool morning air until he’s finally ready to head off. 

 

He starts off slow, walking through their backyard and out into the trees at the beginning of the preserve before he starts into a run, his feet pounding through fallen leaves, over sticks and logs as he weaves his way through the trees. They get thicker and larger and soon all he can hear is the sound of his feet on the ground, the wildlife waking up for the day around him. 

 

He runs for nearly twenty minutes before stopping in a small clearing and basking in the early morning sunlight which casts an orange glow on the trees surrounding him. He bends over as a warm breeze hits his back and tries to regulate his breathing a bit. Derek wipes an arm across his face in an attempt to get rid of some of the sweat running down his skin and sits down on the cool ground for a moment to appreciate the calm of the early morning preserve. 

 

As he sits on the ground he watches a small family of squirrels play in the trees at the far end of the clearing. He’s only been watching for a few minutes before he stands back up and starts heading back the way he came.

 

By the time he makes it back to the house, the other members of his family are already awake. He can see his father in the kitchen, and one of his younger brothers runs to the backdoor as he hops up the steps of the porch. 

 

He presses his face to the screen of the open back door and looks down at his brother with a grin. The young boy is still in his pajamas and clearly not quite awake but he grins back at him, his tongue poking out between his missing front teeth.

 

“Hey, Sebby” Derek says, pushing gently on the screen door. “Can I come in?”

 

“Maybe,” the four year old replied, cheekily. 

 

Derek chuckles, before opening the door and swooping up the younger boy into a hug then  setting him on his hip and walking the rest of the way into the kitchen. 

 

“Hey Dad,” Derek says as he plops his brother down onto one of the breakfast bar stools. 

 

“Morning, Derek. How was the run?” 

 

“It was alright.” Derek shrugs before asking, “Who’s in for breakfast this morning?” 

 

“The usual, I think,” his dad replies as he pulls out a tray of bacon from the oven and sets it on a wooden cutting board. “Alice and Sadie probably won’t be over till later in the day and your grandparents are still in bed so it’ll probably just be everyone else,” his dad finishes. 

 

Right. 

 

Everyone else. 

 

Sometimes Derek wonders what it would be like to not live in a house with his whole family, but he really can’t imagine it. Well, almost his whole family. They don’t all live in the house, but they are at least within walking distance. Aunt Sadie had the sense to build herself a small cottage on the east side of the preserve after college and when her girlfriend Alice moved in, it just made sense for them to take what little privacy they could get and move out by the lake. It was only a couple miles away, but it did mean that they often just had breakfast to themselves. 

 

Which just left his maternal grandparents, his parents, his siblings  -Cora, Finn, Eliza, Sebastian and Wills- his uncle Peter and his wife Emily, and their four kids: Axel, Lucy, Elena and Julian.

 

Oh, and his sister Laura  ,who was away at college and mostly came back on the weekends and holidays. 

 

At the rate this house was filling, he was lucky he still had his own room. 

 

Just then, Cora ran down the stairs and entered the room, dumping her gym bag by the island counter and hopping onto the stool next to Sebastian. 

 

“You better go get ready, I have to be at practice in forty five minutes,” Cora grumbles at Derek.

 

“Good thing you’re such a morning person then.” Derek smirked as he walked past her, stepping to the side when she kicked out her ankle to trip him up. He laughed when Cora made a face at him, then ran upstairs to get ready for school. 

 

-

 

By the time he was done and back downstairs, Cora was standing in the entryway with her bags and a piece of toast for Derek.

 

“C’mon, I gotta go!” 

 

“Alright, alright I’m  _ ready. _ ” 

 

“Let’s go then! You  _ better  _ not be this slow in the mornings if you get on the swim team,” Cora said grumpily  while walking out to the car. 

 

Derek sighed heavily before following her outside.

 

-

 

By the time they got to school, Cora had a mere 7 minutes to spare. They made their way through the empty halls towards the locker rooms. Derek stopped by his locker to grab a book he’d been saving for this exact occasion and then headed into the gym and onto the bleachers next to where Cora’s basketball team would be practicing. The team was sort of used to Derek just sitting in the background, considering he’d been doing it ever since Cora joined the team her first year. 

 

It’s actually how he’d met Erica, and then with her came Boyd and ,eventually, Isaac. His little group of friends wasn’t much, but it was perfect for an introvert like him. 

 

While he was thinking about them, he might as well send a text into their group chat about friday. 

 

**To:** _ Erica, Boyd, Isaac _

 

_ Friday night, my place? We can watch a movie in the basement - Derek _

 

_ Keen! - Erica _

 

_ Ok - Boyd _

 

_ Sounds good, man - Isaac _

 

\- 

 

The morning raced by and when lunch came around, Derek was starving. Luckily, his last class before lunch was right by the school’s cafeteria, which meant that by the time the majority of the students arrived he was already seated with his meal. Derek was sitting  by himself at the table he usually sat at with his friends when Stiles walked in with a couple of his friends. He was grinning widely at something one of them was saying and throwing an apple between his hands.  _ god his hands. _

 

He's just about to pick up his phone and ask his friends where they're at when Stiles looks over at him and they make eye contact.  
  
And then he _winks._  
  
_Winks._  
  
Stiles Stilinski just _fucking winked at him._  
  
At least he thinks it was at him... He looks around and there's not _really_ anybody else around _so..._   
  
_Maybe._  
  
_Maybe?_  
  
Derek looks back over to where Stiles was but he's gone. Derek feels like his cheeks are on _fire._ __  
  
Did that actually just happen? It doesn't make any _sense._  
  
And of course that's when Erica slams her lunch tray down next to him.  
  
"What's up sweet cheeks, you're looking a little pink," she says, eyeing his undoubtedly bright red face.  
  
"N-n-nothing... I'm just, uh, eating my lunch?"  
  
Erica looks down at his sandwich, it has one whole bite out of it.  
  
" __Uh huh " she says, rolling her eyes at him.

 

-

 

As the end of the day rolls around Derek is tired as  _ fuck _ . He really wants to just head home but Cora has her book club meeting until 3:15pm and he can’t leave without her. He walks out of Bio, his last class of the day and follows the crowd through the hallways until he reaches his locker. He swaps out all the books he’ll need for homework and then heads off to the library. 

 

One of the only good things about Cora having such a busy after school schedule is that Derek tends to get most of his homework done before he actually even gets  _ home _ . Which means more free time to do  _ whatever the hell he wants _ . 

 

-

 

He’s just finished writing a note in his phone to ask his Uncle Peter more about the floodplain civilizations of Mesopotamia for his AP world history class when a shadow falls over his work.   He looks up and Stiles is standing at the other side of the table, with one of his friends, Scott McCall, if he recalls correctly. 

 

“Hey Derek,” he hears, through the shock of seeing Stiles twice in one day. 

 

“Uh, h-hey,” he replies, trying hard not to trip over his words.  _ Because, Stiles. _

 

“Do you mind if me and my pal Scotty over here sit with you?”

 

“Uh yeah, sure man,” Derek replies awkwardly, as he moves some of his books closer to himself to make more space. 

 

Derek picks up his pen and pretends to continue his homework, looking over his work in an attempt to read the notes scrawled across the pages in front of him. It’s hard to concentrate though as he listens to Stiles and Scott settle themselves across from him. It doesn’t help that Stiles starts incessantly clicking a pen, the noise pulling Derek’s attention away from his homework and towards Stiles’ beautiful hands. 

 

“So, Dude! Stiles was telling me that you tried out for the swim team yesterday.” 

 

“He was?” Derek asks, biting his lip. 

 

When Scott doesn’t reply, Derek looks up in confusion. He notices Stiles has stopped fiddling with the blue pen in his hand and is nudging at Scott with his elbow, an unreadable expression on his face.

 

“Ha- uh- What Scott means to say is, uh, I uh...” Stiles trails off

 

Derek looks between the two boys in front of him in bewilderment just as Cora rocks up to the table.

 

“What’s up losers?” 

 

Derek jumps nearly a foot off his chair, knocking one of his books to the floor.

 

“Oh  _ shit _ , Cora. Sorry, what time is it?” Derek asks, as he starts scrambling to pack up all of his books and shoving them in his bag. He’s just put his pens away when Stiles reaches down to the ground next to him. Derek is so distracted by the stretch of skin where his t-shirt has ridden up that he doesn’t notice Stiles is trying to hand him his fallen book. 

 

His sister rolls her eyes at him as she grabs the book from Stiles and hands it to him. He quickly packs it into his bag as Cora chats with her friends. 

 

“So, we’ll see you tomorrow night?” his sister asks the two boys across from him.

 

“We’ll be there,” Stiles replies, looking over at Derek and flashing him a grin. 

 

Derek flushes red, but smiles shyly back at him.

 

“Great, well see you then,” his sister says, as she grabs onto his arm and starts dragging him out of the library. He looks over his shoulder at Stiles, who is whispering something furiously to Scott.

 

“Stop  _ gawking, _ ” his sister complains.

 

Derek flips her off.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter should be up some time next week hopefully!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter would not have happened without brebit6 so if you like this chapter you should check out their fics!

It’s friday night and Derek is chopping up some carrots to have with a dip Boyd made. His friends have all arrived and are hanging out in the kitchen with him while he prepares some snacks to take down to the basement.

 

Cora is in the lounge at the front of the house with a couple of her friends, just waiting on Stiles and Scott, and some girl she met who’s name is apparently Kira. 

 

Erica is entertaining two of his little brothers and his cousin, Julian, while his other siblings and cousins sit at the dining room table  finishing off their homework under the watchful eye of his uncle Peter.

 

He’s watching Erica dip Julian down from her hip, and he’s just about to warn her of the dangers of tipping a toddler upside down after dinner when the doorbell rings.

 

“More  _ friends _ !” his younger brother, Wills, shouts excitedly as he and his twin, Sebastian, run out of the kitchen towards the front door. 

 

“No, these are  _ my _ friends,” he hears Cora call out playfully from the other end of the house. 

 

“Nuh uh!” his brothers squeal as they fight to get the front door before her. Cora just barely manages to reach the door first, shoving her way in front of the boys and probably scaring the hell out of whoever was at the door. How childish. 

 

Derek chuckles quietly to himself and turns to grab a bowl to put the carrots in just as Erica sits down on the stool across from him. 

 

“So, are we ready to see  _ Stiles, _ ” she asks in a _ sing-song  _ voice. 

 

She’s got a wriggling Julian in her lap and is winking at him jokingly. 

 

“I don’t know what you mean,” he mumbles quietly, hoping that nobody else is listening into the conversation.

 

“Aw, c’mon Derek.” She laughs, “We all see the way you look at him.”

 

Derek sighs and puts down the bowl of carrots. 

 

“Just- Just don’t _say_ anything-” he stops, listening to Seb argue with Cora about how these are _his_ friends, not Cora’s. His heart flutters in his chest when he hears Stiles’ chuckle, followed by a loud _whoop_ and a childish squeal. Cora’s probably rolling her eyes while simultaneously trying to hide her smile. 

 

“ _ Please _ ” he looks at Erica, and honestly, he’s willing to beg for his friend’s silence.

 

“I won’t, I  _ promise, _ ” she replies before adding, “ but you have to do something about that  _ ass _ before  _ I  _ do.” 

 

Derek groans, looking over at Boyd and Isaac for some relief but they both just stare back at him, Boyd just as stoic as ever and Isaac with a smirk on his face. What  _ great _ friends they are.

 

-

 

He’s watching Erica and Isaac debate the pros and cons of Coke vs. Pepsi when Cora comes down the hallway and into the kitchen with all her friends (and the twins) in tow. 

 

“Hey, bro-” 

 

He doesn’t really hear the rest of whatever his sister had been about to say because  _ Stiles _ has just walked into the room. He’s wearing a light blue t-shirt that hangs across his broad shoulders, the top of the tee is scooped and he can see the beginnings of his collarbone, sharp against Stiles’ pale skin. His hair is a little  _ messy _ but Derek thinks it’s super cute and maybe later he can run his fingers through it... 

 

_ God _ , did he  _ really _ just think  _ that?!  _ He really needed to pull himself together. 

 

“Uh, earth to Derek?” his sister says, waving a hand in front him to get his attention. Derek will never admit that he jumped at the sound of her voice.

 

“Oh, er, what did you say?” he asks, embarrassed. 

 

“I  _ said _ , we were thinking about joining you guys downstairs in the basement for a movie,” his sister repeats, rolling her eyes at him. 

 

“Oh um, okay?” he replies, confused. He thought they were going to hang out separately, but maybe this would be the opportunity he needed to talk to Stiles.  _ Actually _ , that was probably his sister’s master plan all along.

 

She tends to have those often,  _ master plans _ . (Sisters and their plots for evil and world domination and matchmaking)

 

Derek is in trouble.

-

 

Everyone is already downstairs in the basement, having taken snacks down with them. Derek is grabbing the last bottles of soda from the fridge when Stiles walks back into the room. 

 

“Hey man, is there anything else you need  help with?” he asks. Stiles comes to stand next to Derek, his arm brushing against Derek’s as he reaches to take one of the bottles out of his hands. 

 

“Uh-h, I think this is it,” Derek stammers nervously.

 

“Sweet.” Stiles winks at him then turns back towards the stairs. No. Derek’s heart did not just stutter in his chest. Absolutely not.

 

Derek follows Stiles down to the basement, unable to stop thinking about how Stiles hands gripped that soda bottle, the way the veins in his hands stick out. Stiles has almost ludicrously beautiful hands. It’s  _ almost _ unfair.

 

-

 

“Took you long enough,” Jackson pipes up as they step into the basement.

 

“Did you want drinks or not,” he hears Stiles’ reply as he puts the bottles he’s carrying onto the table. He surveys the room and his heart does a little flip in his chest.  

 

There’s only two seats left, and they’re  _ right _ next to each other. 

 

He glances over to where Erica has stretched herself over an  _ entire _ couch and sighs heavily when she winks at him conspicuously. 

 

Derek sits down on the remaining couch and tries to pay attention to the conversation around him but it’s hard when  _ Stiles _ is right next to him and he can feel the heat coming off of him and he keeps fidgeting and Derek can’t stop staring at Stiles’  _ hands _ ...

 

He’s jolted into paying attention when Scott  _ woops  _ loudly, congratulating Kira on something Derek didn’t quite catch. 

 

“Did you make the team?” his sister demands, leaning over the side of the couch to get in his face.

 

“Wha- Uh- I don’t know-” he replies, leaning back into the couch and, closer to Stiles.

 

“You didn’t look? You were first on the list!” Kira exclaims, excitedly. 

 

“Wait,  _ really? _ ” Derek asks, shocked.

 

Derek looks at Kira, his jaw dropping as she nods at him. 

 

His sister jumps up on the couch yelling excitedly before climbing over to his couch and squashing him into a hug, pushing him even closer to Stiles. 

 

He pats her on the back awkwardly, rolling his eyes at his sister.

 

“Thanks, Cora.”

 

-

 

They’ve all settled down and Cora puts on  _ Deadpool.  _ After a thirty minute argument between her and Stiles on who’s the best superhero, everyone decided that Deadpool was a better option than the Avengers. Stiles sat back into the couch to pout and Cora just shrugged and said whatever. Erica  moved a little to let Boyd sit on the couch next to her while Jackson and Lydia are cuddled up on one of the armchairs. 

 

He really is trying to focus on the movie but Stiles keeps jiggling his leg and every now and again it bumps against Derek’s and  _ every _ time he feels it brush against his leg his heart freezes, like he’s missed a step going down the stairs. It’s really starting to affect his mental stability.

 

He’s just working up the courage to  _ ‘accidentally’  _ bump his own leg back against Stiles’ leg when Stiles jumps up, all awkward limbs and missing grace, saying “I gotta go to the bathroom.”

 

Derek’s  _ almost _ disappointed. Except now he gets to watch Stiles walk up the stairs and what’s that thing Laura said last week…

 

_ Oh yeah. _

 

_ Dat ass. _

 

-

Derek takes a few deep breaths now that Stiles is no longer burning holes into his carefully erected wall of gay panic. He still has no idea what’s going on in the movie but that doesn’t really matter. 

 

He quickly glances around the room and is shocked to notice that Cora is sitting quite close to that Allison girl. In fact, are they holding hands?!

 

Derek was going to have a field day with this one.

 

-

 

Stiles is burning up. Being so close to Derek, touching but not really touching, was really affecting his thoughts. It was not the most graceful of exits, but then again, when was Stiles ever graceful? He goes up the stairs, finds the bathroom, runs some cool water over his face.  He really doesn’t have to pee but he still sits on the toilet lid and just puts his head in his hands.  _ God, _ how  _ embarrassing. _ He just  _ fled _ from the room. All of his friends are probably laughing so hard at him right now. 

 

Stiles really has it bad. First, he had to deal with watching Derek move gracefully through the kitchen like he knew exactly what he was doing and what he needed.  _ Then  _ he had to deal with Derek bending over to get water bottles out of the fridge, almost combusting at the sight of Derek’s ass in his jeans. And  _ then _ , even worse, his stupid friends made sure that the only two seats left in the room were right next to each other on one of the smallest couches in the room. Every time he  _ breathed _ his shoulder would brush up against Derek’s warm, buff, beautiful...his shoulder. Don’t even get him started on those stupid glasses that sit on the bridge of Derek’s nose just so, bringing attention to Derek’s already vibrant eyes. Stiles had to get out of there before he died.

 

He’s deep into his inner monologue when one of the twins just waltzes in to wash their hands. 

 

He doesn’t know what to say, just sits there, staring. He isn’t even sure which twin it is exactly… 

 

He thinks it might be Sebastian when the boy turns around and just starts chatting to him nonstop. He sort of just nods his agreements as the young boy chats happily for a couple minutes. Until he asks the  _ worst  _ question possible...

 

“Do you like Derek? I like him. He’s  _ so _ cool. He’s the best big brother _ ever _ . But  _ don’t _ tell Finn, cuz he’s just  _ leven _ and- and-  _ D _ is way older,” Sebastian says, his eyes going wide as he asks Stiles not to tell his other brother. 

 

“Plus, he likes _ you _ ,” the younger boy finishes, with a firm nod of his head, staring at Stiles with expectant eyes. 

 

“Uh,  _ does he? _ ” he replies, a little unsure what to say. Jeez. Way to put a guy on the spot, kid. 

 

“Yup,” the little boy nods his affirmation before continuing, “Cuz he told Laur and C, but I was easedropping.”

 

Stiles just sits there in shock, unable to reply to the four year old in front of him. He doesn’t even try to correct the kids’ mispronunciation. He does, however, whisper a quiet  _ I like him too. _ Sebs face lights up at that and then he’s sprinting out of the bathroom, leaving the door wide open for a shell-shocked Stiles.

 

-

 

It’s a few minutes later and Sebastian has already wandered off to do whatever it is that young boys his age find most important. Stiles is pacing the hallway at the top of the stairs that lead to the basement.  He’s sure he’s blushing and there’s no way that anyone downstairs is just going to ignore  _ that _ . 

 

He decides to just swallow his pride and go back to watch the last of the movie.

 

Besides, it’s not the first time he’s had to swallow his pride. There was that one time when Cora caught him trying on a pair of girls panties in the men’s locker room. After his initial freak out (which included him falling flat on his ass on the cold linoleum floor) he sucked it up and explained to Cora that they were more comfortable than boxers. She laughed at him for days.

 

He makes his way quietly back to his seat but obviously his internal panic, embarrassment really, is not  _ internal enough  _ because as he sits down Derek looks over at him and asks if he’s alright. 

 

He just shrugs awkwardly and hopes that it doesn’t translate to  _ your little brother just told me you have a crush on me and apparently your whole family knows. _

 

-

 

The movie finished about ten minutes ago and Stiles is trying  _ really hard _ not to blurt out his new secret. 

 

A little too hard apparently, because he’s just challenged Derek to a game of pool to avoid trying to explain why he looked like he was constipated.

 

A game he  _ already knows _ he’s shit at.

 

But, of course that doesn’t stop him from bragging about his  _ ‘mad skills.’ _

 

_ How tragic can he get.  _

 

-

Apparently, he can get very tragic...

 

“You know, for someone with ‘mad skills’,” Derek says, even bringing out the finger quotes, “you don’t know many of the rules to this game. The point of the game is to  _ not  _ hit the 8-ball in until the end.” Derek smirks at him. Actually  _ smirks.  _ What the hell even is this guy?

 

“You just hit it in on the first round.”

 

“Yeah well, I still got to watch you fold yourself over the table every few seconds so it was totally worth it.”

 

_ Fuck,  _ did he really just say that? He really wishes his brain-to-mouth filter actually worked when he needed it to. 

 

Well, at least the blush on Derek’s face was totally worth it.

 

And Cora’s look of disgust is just the cherry on top. He’s glad he didn’t wait a second longer to say it because a moment later Mrs. Hale walks down the stairs to announce that dinner is ready. 

 

Not only does Stiles not want to make a bad impression, but he really doesn’t need that getting back to his dad, and he’s definitely seen Mrs. Hale around the Sheriff's station before. 

 

Stiles sprints up the stairs before any of his friends can say anything stupid.

  
  


-

Dinner was uneventful for the most part. Stiles sat next to Jackson and Lydia, 100% avoiding Erica’s glare from across the table. He refused to acknowledge it. And no, he’s not being childish, just...precautious. 

 

Everyone is nearing their pizza capacity when a couple of the little kids come in to say goodnight to Cora and Derek. Sebastian walks right up to Derek, pecking him on the cheek.

 

Stiles has exactly five seconds to think about how cute that is until Sebs turns towards Stiles brings the conversations in the room to a complete and terrifying halt.

  
  


“Sorry I sawed your bathroom time, Stiles. I had ta wash my hands, they were really dirty. That’s what Uncle Peter said! But I know it’s okay cuz you and I both talked about liking batman…oh! And how much Derek likes you!”

 

Stiles cringes. He really didn’t want to see what his face looked like right now. Instead, he’s curious to see what Derek’s looks like. Which...it doesn’t look like he thought it would.

 

Derek looks absolutely mortified. If Stiles touched him right now he’d probably break into a million different pieces and float off into the awkward air that surrounds the dinner table.

 

“Derek-” Stiles starts, but is interrupted by Derek’s quiet voice. 

 

“Yeah,” Derek’s voice is hoarse and he’s starting to back out of the room, embarrassed. “I’m just gonna-”  

 

_ Leave _ . 

 

Stiles drops his head into his hands and groans. This was the worst way for Derek’s secret to come out. Not only did it happen in front of his  _ entire family,  _ but it happened in front of  _ him.  _ Stiles would have been mortified too if that had happened to him.

 

“It could be worse?” he hears Scott say as he pats Stiles on the back.

 

Stiles pinches his nose and refuses to look at him. 

 

“I don’t think so, Scotty.” 

 

Stiles looks up to where Derek had disappeared to, just working up the courage to go and talk to him when Mrs. Hale spoke up.

 

“Well...it’s late. I think it’s about time you all get home and into bed.”

 

Stiles hears everyone’s mumbles of assent but he can’t seem to move. Shouldn’t

he talk to Derek? Get the story straight? Shouldn’t he…

 

“Excuse me, Mr. Stiles?” Stiles looks down to find Seb pulling at the hem of his shirt. “You like D back! You should tell him cuz he really likes you and it would make him happy and I really like it when he is happy because he plays airplanes with me!” 

 

Seb was bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly, completely ignorant of all the craziness he’s caused.

 

Stiles smiles down at the boy, gently taking his hand off of Stiles’ overstretched shirt.

 

“You’re totally right kiddo. I like when he’s happy too.” Seb grinned cheekily and then ran into his mother's waiting arms. Stiles watched as Derek’s family quickly cleaned the dinner table, completely hiding the evidence that someone’s world just got turned upside down. 

 

He was a second away from offering to help when a strong hand gripped his arm and pulled him outside and towards his blue Jeep. 

 

“C’mon man, I gotta get home before mom finds out I didn’t do the dishes.”

 

Stiles ignored Scott and instead found a far more interesting subject to study. The light shone bright through the drawn curtains of Derek’s room, so Stiles could still see his silhouette moving around, pacing.

 

He could have sworn he saw the curtain flutter and a hand poke out but it was too hard for him to tell. 

 

“Stilinski!” Stiles jumped at the sudden booming of Jackson’s voice over the calmness of the preserve. “Quit looking for your boyfriend and lets go!”

 

Stiles rolled his eyes, flipping Jackson the bird without looking back. One last glance at the window showed the light was out so Stiles turned to leave, his mind stuck on a constant loop of

 

_ He likes me back! _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read this far feel free to leave a comment, it'll give me life!


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